The overlap method of aiming has long been used by professional snooker players, those who rely on snooker for a living: players like Ray Reardon, six times snooker world champion who coached Ronnie O’Sullivan. What I believe is new, is the following method which links the amount of overlap to any contact point on the object ball and does it precisely.
Contact Point and Overlap
If we play a shot in snooker, while keeping our head still, and the cue ball hits the object ball, we will see that as the balls make contact, there is a region of overlap. This region, or the part of the object ball that is covered by the cue ball, determines where the balls make contact. The contact point is always in the centre of the overlapping region (see figure 1 at the bottom of the page, for other examples see the previous article).
Snooker players refer to the standard overlapping shots by the names ¼ ball, ½ ball, ¾ ball and full ball shots. In figure 1 we have the example of a ½ ball shot. Here we see half of the object ball covered by half of the cue ball.
A New Form of Visualisation
Figure 1 shows a new way of looking at the overlapping region. This is by visualising the imaginary cue ball embedded inside the object ball. All we need to know is that the contact point is on a line that divides this region in half, and so we build the overlapping region around the point that we have already determined is the correct contact point. Using this method we only have to imagine two circles overlapping each other and aim for the imaginary one.
This is much easier to see in our minds than a three dimensional imaginary cue ball in contact with the object ball. That would be too complicated an image to keep in our minds, and we would need to change that mental image as we got down on the shot. With the overlap method, the portion of the balls that are overlapping remains the same in our mind’s eye, and does not change as we move our head up or down.
So where Do I Aim the Centre Of The Cue Ball?
But we can be even more precise; see figure 2. Look at the left hand ball. In this example, we have determined that we need to hit this ball at a point that is 1/6 of a ball’s width from the left edge. Now we know that this contact point lies in the middle of the overlapping region, so if we double that distance we come to the edge of that region. Then all we need to do is subtract half a ball’s width to find the centre of our imaginary ball, where we aim the cue ball.
So 1/6 x 2 = 2/6 and then minus 3/6 = -1/6.
A negative number means the aiming point is outside of the object ball. So in this case, we need to aim at a point 1/6 of a ball’s width outside the left edge of the object ball.
Look at the other examples in figure 2.
5/12 x 2 = 10/12 and then 10/12 – 6/12 = 4/12. We aim 4/12 or 1/3 of a ball’s width inside the object ball.
¼ x 2 = ½ and then ½ - ½ = 0. Here we aim at the right edge itself; this is our old friend the half ball shot.
Remember to make the denominator an even number; for example, if you feel that the contact point is 1/3 of a ball’s width from the edge, turn this fraction into 2/6, because you have to subtract half a ball’s width at the end.
The Best Snooker in Life is Free
So whether you are a quick player or a more precise player, the overlap method can work for you. You can either aim by visualising the overlapping region surrounding the contact point, or you can work out where the aiming point is by doing a little mental arithmetic. In either case, this technique provides a solid and simple framework for correct aiming. There are a lot of expensive gimmicks and complicated training devices for snooker and pool, the advice here is free, simple, and it works. Those who achieve success from this method may want to comment below, although I fully understand that you may want to keep it secret.
Source
REARDON ON SNOOKER, GUILD HOME VIDEO LTD.
Bruce Bowden - Bruce Bowden writes about science and other topics. His book Strange Harbinger is a science fiction mixture of comedy and drama.
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